Martin, you are our new Product Manager, interesting times at VYRE, what's new?

Yes, very interesting, as October 2010 will see the release of our out-of-the box Brand Asset Management (BAM) module: OnBrand and then later in the year we will launch a set of complimentary modules.

VYRE Unify has always been a platform that clients have customised to suit their specific needs, why have we decided to productise and make out of the box modules available?

There is an increasing demand for quality out of the box solutions on the monthly service based model. We were keen to enter this market but did not want to bring out just another solution. After researching the market and examining common requirements we believed that we could do it better - more streamlined with high levels of usability and logic, allowing marketeers to concentrate on being creative.

Why brand asset management? How is that going to make a difference for your clients?

Many of our clients are looking for ways to increase the effectiveness of their branding and that not only means inspiring execution but also adherence to guidelines and efficient processes. Brand asset management helps fulfil all of those ambitions and with the release of the new out of the box module we are providing a best of breed solution that does not require extensive consulting, allowing clients to reap the benefits sooner.

What are the primary objectives of the OnBrand solution?

Well, what we're doing with OnBrand is combining everything that VYRE has been traditionally very good at - allowing people to work together on projects, putting brand guidelines, assets and media all together; taking all of that and putting it into one intuitive and quick to deploy package that gives access to everything brand related in one place. No more draft guideline, PDFs flying around unchecked by email, that was our goal.

Sounds good, but can you outline how OnBrand is different from other solutions on the market?

Ok, well let me point out four key points:

Firstly, you're getting a BAM solution from a very well established and recognised company, which is built on an enterprise class, award winning technology platform. We've been in the business for a long time and whilst OnBrand itself is all glossy and new, it's the result of over ten years of BAM experience. We have a pretty granular understanding of what marketing professionals like and dislike and what brands of all sizes do and don't need from their BAM system. A lot of expertise has driven the development of this product and we think it shows.

The second thing that makes OnBrand stand out, literally, is that you're getting a system that's incredibly intuitive to use and beautiful to look at. Our view is that everything that touches your brand needs to support it, including your BAM. So many solutions out there are basic to look at and a nightmare to use. And these are the systems that are showcasing your brand assets! From a visual and user interface perspective they seem to be actively trying to sabotage the brands that they're supposed to be bringing together, and we think that's just not good enough. We wanted our system to make brand owners feel good about what they do, and proud of their brand and it's assets.

Number three: Unique features at this price point. Good search is critical to the success of any BAM solution and in this area we are pulling out all the stops by including the VYRE Unify enterprise search functionality. Predictive keyword, tags and metadata searching provides full feedback to users as they type. No longer do users spend ages searching - now they find information quickly and easily. Once they have found the information they need they can save the search for later. Next time they can click on the saved search and up comes the assets and articles they need. Combining these unique features with Watch Lists, Basket and Downloads provides users with a solution that requires minimal training. The BAM solution can also be branded to match your exact needs in terms of colours, designs and logos

Finally, and this is the bit that the business people will like, as OnBrand is built on VYRE Unify, it can easily be extended, with additional out of the box modules and also in a bespoke direction. We believe this is totally unique as it combines the best of both world's: out of the box gets you going quickly and provides an opportunity to prove the solutions potential to the business and then you can extend to fit your exact needs, safeguarding your investment.

How are we going to make this new BAM out of the box module available to existing and new clients?

Lots of choice here as our new BAM out of the box module will be available as Software as a Service (SaaS), which is our application rental model, or as a Platform as a Service (PaaS).

Our SaaS model allows clients to pay a monthly fee for accessing the BAM module without the need for expensive hardware or software costs and implementation. Clients can therefore quickly have access to our full set of features without having to engage their own IT resources.

Each new module that we develop can be added to our clients' setup without any additional large investment. So in the future if a client chooses to use our Brand Management solution and then would like to add the Print module they can do so quickly and easily.

For our Platform as a Service (PaaS) module we will offer our complete VYRE Unify platform so that clients can access all of the powerful features that our solution has to offer, without delay. This would be the same as a client installing VYRE Unify on their own servers, except VYRE will be managing the hosting, support and maintenance of the solution for a monthly fee.

You mention Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS). Most people will be familiar with SaaS but may be less familiar with PaaS. Can you explain the difference between PaaS and SaaS some more? What are the exact benefits of each one?

Software as a Service: Delivering applications as a subscription service over the Internet. We build the application or set of applications and then as a vendor can rent it out to clients or partners. A typical SaaS solution is modularised to enable easier upgrades and enhancements.

Platform as a Service: PaaS offers an integrated environment to design, develop, test, deploy and support custom applications. We can offer our enterprise class platform to our clients and partners with applications built on top. These applications can then be rent or paid up front with servicing and hosting charges. PaaS offers an extendible and configurable enterprise solution, which can grow with the client.

You also mention additional modules to come soon, what are they and when are they expected?

Yes, the hard work is not over yet. We are currently working on Campaign Management, Creative Workflows and Print Management modules. We'll be tightly integrating them into a complete solution of modules to allow clients to add in features when they feel they are ready. As with our BAM these are all built on top of our enterprise class VYRE Unify solution and are expected Q4 2010 and Q1 2011.

Martin, can you tell us a little bit about your background and experience.

I've worked for over 10 years in various software houses (everything from CRM through to Web Content Management). My roles during those 10 years have included Support Manager, Pre Sales, Technical Account Management and currently Product Manager. Working out in the field for clients assisting with procurement of software I also have an understanding of both sides of the fence.

This combined with pre and post sales technical roles means I have had a fair amount of inside knowledge of how clients view software houses and their applications. Understanding what clients desire and where current trends in our market are leading us means I (hopefully) can guide our product development.

So you have a great deal of experience in the Content Management (CMS) and DAM arena. Where do you think software applications are going right now?

The CMS/DAM market as ever is constantly adapting to what is popular now in other areas of the internet such as Facebook and Twitter. Many clients have expressed interest in social networking, cloud based computing and SaaS to name but a few. One aspect most people are extremely interested in is rental and SaaS models when implementing a new solution.

Clients have had some experience with other solutions such as Salesforce and now would like to expand this experience to other challenges such as Web Content Management and Digital Asset Management. Enterprise class search is also becoming more mainstream with users having day-to-day contact with Google and Bing.

Overall the move is towards modularised applications that are tailored towards solving particular problems rather than whole suites of software applications that take forever to implement and often do not address real world problems. Lastly return on investment calculations are now seen as commonplace due to sign off of projects being scrutinised more and more.

Many thanks for your time Martin.